Monday, March 19, 2007

I had a session last week that still has me smiling. The girls were so excited to get their pics taken. They knew what they wanted so I just let them do their thing and clicked. It is the easy ones like this that make this SO much fun!

Thursday, March 08, 2007

I wanted to do an entry about the Walker funeral. I wanted to get some of this written down before I forget it all.

This is Bishop Probst. This man is incredible, simply incredible. He is the father of the other two children who also died in the accident. Not only did he conduct this meeting, he conducted the meeting of his own children's funeral as well. He said that since his children seen him sit on the stand at church for so long, he would do it one last time for them.

Bishop Probst and Brandon got to the site of the accident before the diving crew was in the water. The police had to handcuff them because they were trying to go into the water. I can't imagine what they went through not being able to help.

This was about half of the people in attendance at the dedication of the children's graves. Their were so many people there to support. During the funeral the church was packed with family and friends. They also broad casted it to three others churches.

These are just a few of the pall bearers. It was an amazing site to see those young men so reverent, placing their friends for the final time. They were all too young to have to do this.

After all of the boys placed the flowers that they wore on the caskets that they carried, they gave hugs to Brandon and Tamara. All of the boys were special in Meagon, Tyler and Kyle's life.

All of the children there got a balloon to release. It was a sweet site to see all of the balloons going to heaven.

I love how Tamara was fussing over Meagan's flowers and pictures. It broke my heart to watch a mother say goodbye to her last daughter. The weekend before Meagan passed away she was planning her 16th birthday party that would have been on the 15th of this month. I can't imagine loosing my daughter at such an exciting time of her life.

I put my bossy photographer hat on for this picture. I think it is tender and what we all wish we could do for Tamara when she gets to the moments of deep and painful mourning for her children.

Kyle would have been 13 this Saturday, the 11th. He was a sweet and tender boy. It was said that he was more than willing to stay inside while the boys worked to help take care of the children. He loved to cook and bake all sorts of goodies. When one of his cousins heard that he had passed, they asked, "Who will feed us now when we go to aunt Tamara's house?" Tamara giggled when that story was told because she said it was true. He would make Mac and Cheese or top ramen for anyone who would eat it. He loved to make cookies and brownies for his family to take to other families. He was a good boy who loved his siblings and parents.

Tyler was a little bit of a stinker. When he was younger, if their was ever another child crying, it was because Tyler was hugging them and wouldn't let go. As he grew up, he put his passion for life towards the outdoors. He was riding a motor bike at a very young age. He was never afraid to take it off of jumps, even with someone on the back. It was amazing he lived as long as he did. :) He wrote in his journal how much he loved working with his dad. He was very creative when it came to anything with his hands. He built model plans to fly and was an excellent artist. He loved to hunt and fish.

He had another journal entry that has made me rethink how I want to be raising my children. He was asked some questions by a teacher at school. One of them was, What about you annoys other people? He wrote that other people didn't like it that he was so good. He didn't understand why it was bad to be a "goodie." He loved to do what is right and he loved to obey his parents. I want to know what those parents did to have their 14 year old boys have such pure intentions.

Sweet Meagan. This girl accomplished more in her 15 years than I have in my 28. She was passionate for so many things. She had a raw talent for singing. She had a pure voice and was not afraid to share it with others, no matter how big the crowd was. She loved Basketball and Track. She played forward on her team and did it with all of the heart that she had. One of her team mates said that at practice, nobody wanted to guard her because she used those hips and elbows as much as she could. She was the one who would sacrifice her body for the ball and was proud of all of the bruises that came from it. In track, she was phenomenal. She loved to sprint and do hurdles.

Another one of her passions was for horses. As young as 4, she was riding by herself on a pony when the pony started to run. Meagon started to slip off of the saddle until she eventually slid off. She ended up laughing it off and couldn't wait to get back on. She loved her horse Shadow. She would do shows for her family with all sorts of routines and jumps. She was prepping for a show (that she created) for a family reunion with some cousins and friends. Before one of their scheduled practices, it began to rain. Instead of canceling the practice and spending some play time together, Meagan made everyone go up in her room and practice. She got our her plastic horses and fences and they did their routine. When they got tired of that, they set up the arena in the living room and pretended like they were the horses themselves.

Meagan was planning her 16th birthday with her cousin the weekend before she passed away. After they spent all day thinking of everyone that they wanted to invite, they were able to go to a church dance together. Since the Walkers moved to Sweet 6 months ago and her cousin lives in Eagle, it was a fun reunion for her to see so many people that she was hoping would come to her party. Her cousin said that at the end of the night, Meagon said that she felt so lucky to be able to see everyone that she wanted to before she went home. Now, we can't help but think that she is home, and it was such a blessing for her and her friends to be able to see each other one last time.

When the car was pulled out of the water, Meagan was sitting by Kyle and had her arms around him. These children love each other so much. Meagan helped so much with the family after Makayla died 5 years ago. She along with all 4 of the other children will be deeply missed.

I have had one roller coaster of a week. The funeral for these sweet children was unlike anything I have ever witness. Being in the presence of such an amazing family has inspired me to be a better mother, wife and woman. If I could raise my children like Brandon and Tamara have raised their kids, I would be at peace with so many things. I could go on and on about the uplifting details, but at the moment, I am so drained and want to go and spend time with my children. I will continue to have the Walkers and the Probst families in my prayers, they need every onesprayers for a long time.